Jane's Baptism

Jane's baptism was really beautiful. In the Russian Orthodox manner, by the end of the service no baptismal stone was left unturned, so to speak. Combined with the liturgy, the baptismal service takes almost two hours. Since many people are not familiar with Eastern Orthodox Christian baptism, I'll tell about it here.

Upon entering the church, you see the baptismal font next to a table with the items that will be blessed or used in the baptism.


Jane Anne was born on Oct 26, 2008, almost 101 years to the date from her great-grandmother's birthday. My Grandmother Annie Jane, in whose honor we named Jane, was born Oct 29, 1907. Jane Anne will wear Grandmother's century-old baptismal gown for the service.

The baptismal service begins in the narthex (entryway to the church), just before the nave (main body of the church). The parents are largely not a part of the service, as the focus is on the one being baptized and the Godparents.

Traditionally, the Godparents are not related to each other nor to the one being baptized. In choosing Godparents, Steve and I consider which two families we would like to graft into ours to be a source of Christian advice, encouragement, and mentoring to Jane in the future. We choose Levan and Tanya, and hope that we do as well with Jane as they have with their children.

In the narthex, Levan and Tanya stand before Fr Alexander and, on Jane's behalf, will voice the responses to the prayers he says. Fr Alexander breathes gently into Jane's face, makes the Sign of the Cross over her, and lays his right hand on her head. The service begins with three exorcisms, followed by a prayer of acceptance.

By way of explanation, this synopsis comes from the St Barbara Greek Orthodox Church website:

The Sacrament of Baptism is divided into two distinctive services. The first service takes place in the Narthex of the Church and is known as The Service of the Catechumen. It is during this service that several things occur, first, three prayers of exorcism are read, asking God to “empower,” the soon to be baptized Christian, “to triumph over Satan and his vile spirits so that having found mercy with You, (God), they may be found worthy of Your immortal, heavenly mysteries and offer up glory to You O God….”

The Priest then asks God to bless the soon to be baptized Christian with a guardian angel to guide, guard and protect them all the days of their life.

Once the catechumen prayers are completed, the Godparents recite the Symbol of Faith (the Nicene Creed), and enter the nave. At this point, the Divine Liturgy begins.

In the picture below, you see the baptismal font with candles, Fr Al reciting the prayers, Tanya holding the candles, and Levan holding Jane who is wrapped in a white towel.

Father blesses the baptismal water and the oil that will be used to anoint Jane. Then he traces the Sign of the Cross on her with the oil, from head to toe, saying:

(on the forehead)
The servant of God Jane Anne is anointed with the oil of Gladness, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

(on the chest and between the shoulders)
Unto the healing of soul and body.

(on the ears)
Unto the hearing of the faith.

(on the hands)
Thy hands have made and fashioned me.

(on the feet)
That she may walk in the way of Thy commandments.

After Jane is anointed, she is taken for baptism. Holding her upright and facing toward the East, Fr Al will immerse Jane in the baptismal water three times, saying:

The servant of God, Jane Anne, is baptized in the name of the Father, Amen (immerse). And of the Son, Amen (immerse). And of the Holy Spirit. Amen (immerse).

This is generally where the otherwise peaceful and quiet child is shocked into consciousness. If the child hasn't cried up to this point, the water usually prompts him. We are all amazed that Jane doesn't make a peep and hardly even blinks.

After the immersion, I meet Tanya in the back of the church to clothe Jane in Grandmother Annie's gown while the choir sings Psalm 32.

All dressed and back inside the church.

The liturgy continues, as the baptism is woven into the service. Tanya brings Jane back into the nave, where Fr Al administers the Order of Holy Chrismation, in which she is anointed with Holy Chrism, a consecrated oil. With a brush, he traces the Sign of the Cross on her forehead, over her eyes, nose, lips, on both ears, her chest, her hands and feet, each time saying:

The seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Fr Al the leads the Godparents and Jane in a circular procession around the Baptismal Font while everyone sings:

As many as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. Alleluia.

The Prokeimenon is read. Today happened to be Steve's day to read, so he was able to read for Jane's baptism:

The Lord is my light and my salvation: Whom then shall I fear?

The liturgy continues, and the Epistle and Gospel are read. Her Godparents continue to hold Jane until the time comes to "wash off" the consecrated oil, which Fr Al does by wiping it with a small sponge. He dips the sponge in water and sprinkles Jane, then wipes the chrism from her face, head, chest, and other places where she has been anointed saying:

You are justified. You are illumined. You are sanctified. You are washed: in the Name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, and by the Spirit of God.

You have been baptized. You are illumined. You have been Chrismated. You are sanctified. You are washed: in the Name of the Father and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Immediately following this, Fr Al says another prayer over Jane asking God to bless her who makes her first offering "shorn from the hair of her head."

O Lord our God, who, through the fulfilling of the baptismal font, by Thy goodness dost sanctify them that believe on Thee: Bless this child here present, and let Thy blessing descend upon her head. And as Thou didst bless David the King by the hand of thy Prophet Samuel, bless also the head of this Thy servant Jane Anne, by the hand of me, a sinner, inspiring her with thy Holy Spirit; that as she increases in stature, and even unto a ripe old age, she may ascribe glory unto Thee, and behold the good things of Jerusalem all the days of her life.

And with that, Father takes his tiny scissors and cuts small pieces of hair from Jane's little head in the shape of a cross.

After the Baptism has been performed, Fr Al goes to the back of the church and takes little Jane between his hands, as you would hold a child you were handing over to someone else. He enters the nave and raises her aloft, making the Sign of the Cross with her body, saying:

The servant of God, Jane Anne, is churched: In the Name of the Father and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

As he walks through to the middle of the nave, he says:

She enters into Thy house, to worship towards Thy Holy Temple... In the midst of the church shall she sing praises to Thee...

Finally, Father takes little Jane and lays her gently at the top of the steps leading to the sanctuary. She lies there quietly as the choir sings the Prayer of St Simeon:

Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy Word. For mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people; a light to enlighten the Gentiles, and to be the glory of Thy people Israel.

As the song comes to an end, Father asks if there is anyone who wishes to claim the child. Steve and I walk up to the steps and I scoop her up into my arms.

Jane receives her first communion at this time, and is recognized as a full member of the Church. She will begin to go to confession when she is old enough to reason, somewhere between five and seven years old. Orthodox confession is much like a brief counseling session with the priest to help you put your thoughts and actions back on course, not simply a recitation of your wrongdoings.

Shortly after communion, the service does, in fact, end. Eastern Orthodox are not known for doing anything in half-measures. At the end of the service, you KNOW that something really significant has happened.

After the service ends, we all go over to the parish center for a reception. The Godparents have taken care of all the details I would have forgotten about, like the cake. Tanya has remembered that I'm a pie girl and has no less then three pies waiting for me, even rhubarb!


For the reception, I change Jane out of the century-old baptismal gown and into one made especially for her by my friend Mary Jane. Now Jane will have one to hand down to her grandchildren.



Here we are with the immediate family, the Drexlers and the Gillilands.


The church family: Nino & Levan, Steve, Tanya & Dale, Jane and I.

And our adoptive family, Steve, Jane and I with the girl whose immense love and courage made our adoption of Jane possible, Jane's birthmother Karinna.

Thank you to everyone who made the day possible: Fr Alexander, Nino and Levan, Tanya and Dale, Bonnie and Harford Drexler, Patricia and Jerry Gilliland, and Karinna.

more info on Orthodox Christian Baptism can be found here.

Sunny Ride with my Baby Girl (Jane)

originally posted on the Bruise Chronicles


Jane Anne, my new still-under-warranty baby girl burst on the scene in late October. Before she was even born, I purchased the Burley trailer and began practicing towing a sack of potatoes. I probably should have dressed up the sack of potatoes with a little hat and tiny sunglasses, but I digress.

I was nervous about taking little Jane more than a few minutes from the house... I mean, what if she started crying or something?? You new parents, you know what I'm talking about, while you parents of two or more just chuckle and roll your eyes. I know what you're thinking...

And this is where I force myself into "Mom of three small children" mode as a coping mechanism. See, a mother of one infant behaves a certain way. She jumps when her kid makes the slightest noise. But a mother of THREE, now, there's a rock. She can have one kid banging pots and pans with a spoon, another eating dirt, and the third screaming for a bottle, and all she'll do as she makes her way calmly to the kitchen is pick up the dirt-eating kid and tuck him under her arm, grab a dishrag to wrap around the spoon to muffle the noise, and sing louder than the crying kid while she prepares the bottle. Mom of one gets rattled when her infant sneezes once, while mom of three snickers and mutters under her breath, "Amateur."

I told myself that if Jane cries while in the Burley, and I know she's not in any real distress, I'll just make my way calmly to the nearest stopping point, address the issue, and continue the ride. I'll have to channel a mom of three small children to do this, but it won't be too much of a stretch. I've been channeling a ten-year-old boy since I started riding mountain bikes. What's one more person?

In preparation, Jane and I took a trip first around the neighborhood, which went very well.

In the infant snuggler inside the Burley bike trailer.

Laura and Jane riding around the neighborhood.

We went around the neighborhood for ten minutes on our first outing, then it was just a matter of making longer and longer trips.

On Sunday afternoon, we bundled up well and made our way to Donny's Cafe.

Cute happy kid.

By the time we arrived, despite a few bumps in the road, Janie was fast asleep.


It occurs to me as I write this, that many of these pictures of a kid in a Burley trailer look alike, but as a new mom, I think I'm bound by contract to show you every last one of them. Oh oh!! Here's another...


So TODAY was the big day of lots of errands. First, we went to Target to pick up some photo Christmas cards...


The folks at Target were great about letting me bring my bike and trailer into the store and park it while I picked up my photo cards. Thanks Target people :)

Then we went to Donny's Cafe where we both had snacks.


Refreshments...


After the cafe, we stopped at the bank...


Then we had one last stop to mail a CD to a friend.


Once we had all our errands done, we headed home, taking advantage of the bike path and the chance to get a little dirt under the tires.



It was a great day to be in San Diego.



The only problem we ran into was on the way home. There's this cactus called cholla that grows just about anywhere in the Southwest. This cactus is the reason that I carry pliers in my camelbak when I'm mountain biking. It tends to break off at the slightest perceived provocation and jump into your path, clinging to anything it touches, and breaking off into smaller pieces that stick to other parts of you and your bike.



This is what we came upon today, and before I knew it, I had rolled right over a small chunk that had strayed into the street. The tire of the Burley hit that bad boy and I knew immediately that I had to get it out and then get home before the tire went flat. Now I'll have to add pliers to my list of things I carry in the Burley.

We made it home with air to spare. Yay!! All in all, a great morning of work and play that I was able to share with my little girl.

New Baby in Da House

originally posted on the Bruise Chronicles

Jane Anne Drexler


It's been a long and arduous journey... and I've only got as far as my own front door. The journey is only beginning.

By the grace of God we have an adopted newborn in the house. Jane Anne was born on Oct 26, 2008, at about 11:30 am.

8lbs 11oz, 19"

I don't know why these are always the things that people ask. Probably because it's really all we know about her at that point. The day she is born, we go to see her in the hospital. I am reduced to sobbing tears when the birth-mother places her in my arms.

I tell the guys at work that I will come back to the shop to work if we leave the hospital early enough. When it looks like we will not be getting back early, I call the shop.

"Cisco, I just wanted to let you guys know that I won't be coming in today after all," I explained, "I'm still at the hospital."

"The hospital! What happened?" he asks. It's a legitimate question if you know me and how I tend to ride my bike.

"Nothing. The baby we're adopting was born today. We're here to see the baby," I tell him.

"Oh! A baby! Boy or girl?" he asks with excitement.

"A little girl. Jane Anne," I tell him.

"Oooohh! I little girl! Is she beautiful?" he asks expectantly.

I blink. This baby has just been smushed through the Play-Dough Fun Factory of Life and looks like... um, a newborn. What kind of question is that?

"Cisco, she's three hours old. She still looks like a semi-reconstituted prune. Ask me again in a few days, OK?"

I'm still on edge about seeing the baby, because she's technically not ours, and will be with the birth-mother and not in our custody for another week. I will be an emotional wreck for the next 24 hours, knowing that I'm expected to visit the baby again the following day, ooo and aaaah over this little child that is not mine, then detach from her at the end of the visit, knowing that anything can happen in a week while the birth-mother nurses her and cares for her. This week will be difficult for everyone.

I'm forced to re-focus, put my own angst aside, and remember that this healthy baby girl has made her debut on the planet, full of life and unexplored potential!

Here's a pic from the hospital.

The week following her birth is torturous for us. Although the birth-mother is an amazingly focused and goal-oriented individual, and is determined to give up the baby for adoption knowing that she would not be able to provide her a stable two-parent home, we must prepare ourselves for any outcome, including the birth-mother's choice to keep the baby.

According to the laws of California, the birth-mother has thirty days to change her mind, from the day we take custody. I will be mentally preparing myself to take care of God's child, not my own, knowing she could be taken from me any time between the day I get her and about Dec 6.

Steve and I take custody of Jane on Nov 2, 2008.


Asleep in my arms.


Mr "New Dad" prepares for an afternoon nap with Janie on Monday, the day after we bring her home.


It's been almost a week, and I must say, we totally won the baby lottery. She's not fussy, but only cries when something is going on - she's hungry or wet or uncomfortable. She started to open her eyes to the world and hold her head up on Tuesday, Nov 4. It looks like she might have hazel or brown eyes.

She has long beautiful fingers - perfect for playing the cello or piano.

She hasn't started smiling yet, but it won't be long. She tends to furrow her brow in what I affectionately call her "perma-scowl," that appears on her face when her eyes are open and her newborn blurry vision can't quite make out the smudge in front of her. But we are all happy smudges, looking for the can of "scowl-be-gone."

As I tell my stories, centered around my latest adventure heroine, I realize the entire shape of my world has changed. It's been over ten paragraphs and I haven't said anything about bikes or bruises or crashing or pain. I spent the entire morning on Wednesday cleaning the house and watching the baby and feeding the baby, and planning dinner. When it occurred to me that this was how I was filling my day, I stopped short, stuck for a moment right in that moment. The remarkable thing was not that I was there, but that I was enjoying being there.

This image kinda sums it up for me:


Like the dog with the stupid grin, I've been domesticated. And it's really not too bad.

Finally in "News of the New Mom that you Just Can't Make Up" here's a morsel for you. It was 4:45am on Friday morning. I had been up with the baby since about 3:30am when she awoke hungry and I got up to nurse her (Yes, she's adopted and I'm nursing. Ah, the miracles of modern science.)

Anyhoo, she's all done, but she has the hiccups, and I can find NOTHING that will help her out. I put her on my shoulder, I walk around the room bouncing, I pat her on the back, and just when we get nice and settled down and I think she's going back to sleep... HIC!

I'm exhausted and no longer thinking straight. I've tried everything. Finally I bring her to bed with me, hoping that... I dunno, the power of my charismatic sleepwaves will overtake her and she'll fall asleep. Her hiccups awaken Steve.

"Honey, the baby has the hiccups," he tells me quietly.

"Yeah," I mutter sleepily, "I'm hoping they'll go away."

"Put her vertical," he suggests.

Not moving from my prone position, I prop the baby up vertically, as she flops over onto me with a HIC!

"Honey," Steve says, now awake, "you want me to take her?"

"Oh, would you? I just can't anymore," I mutter.

"Of course. That's what I'm here for," he says sympathetically. He takes the baby and I fall immediately to sleep.

When I awaken, I stumble into the living room where Janie and I had been a few hours before trying to deal with her hiccups. That's when I see it: the little mini paper bag I had found, and in desperation had tried to get her to breathe into to stop her hiccups. This is what they call a "facepalm moment." Somehow at 4:30 in the morning, trying to get a newborn to breathe into a tiny paper bag to cure the hiccups seemed like a reasonable thing to do.

Sleep deprived? Naw... just um, resourceful!


"Here, Janie, breathe into this." HIC! (yawn) "Trust me."

Who is Kinnera?

While my Church family in Brick, NJ, and in California know me as Kinnera (my baptismal name), the rest of the world at large knows me by my legal name: Laura.

In Jan 2000, when I was baptized Orthodox, I took the name of St Kinnera of Kirkinner, Scotland. St Kinnera was from the same region of Scotland that my family (Gilliland) originally came from, and since I had no other Orthodox ties, I gravitated to this connection.

When I arrived in Brick, NJ, in 2001, knowing no one, I introduced myself at church by my saint's name, knowing that the only time I would ever hear that name spoken was within the Church. I didn't set out to be confusing, I just liked hearing the name and being reminded of my baptism.

So, this is why people call me Kinnera and others call me Laura. I answer to both.


What we know of St Kinnera:

St. Kennera (Kinnera) of Scotland, Virgin Martyr
----------------------------
October 29
Born in Scotland, 5th century.
Saint Kennera is said to have been educated with
Saint Ursula (f.d. October 21)
and Saint Regulus of Patras (f.d. March 30).
Later she became a recluse at Kirk-Kinner in
Galloway, Scotland (Benedictines, Encyclopaedia).

Troparion of St Kennera tone 8
Bright beacon of purity and Light of Galloway,
O holy Kennera/
As thou didst preserve thyself in virginity
for love of Christ//
Pray to Him, that despite our corrupt condition
He will grant us great mercy.

Introduction

Hey All,

After posting family and baby updates on my Bruise Chronicles (bike and adventures) blog, I decided it was time to have a Drexler Family News blog.

I'm reposting the first two Jane Drexler posts, so if it seems like reruns, well, it is.

Welcome to the blog of our new adventure; I hope you like our stories.

-Laura (also called Kinnera)